Anne T. Donahue: Peter! We're holding space! Just try and stop us! (Please don't try to stop us.) How should we describe this new venture?

Peter Knegt: A conversational, collaborative column where me and you pick a topic to "hold space" for, essentially? And one that, yes, we fully acknowledge we have decided to questionably name as a tribute to a ridiculous but also wonderful moment in pop culture that came and went months ago.

Anne: It's a moment indelibly etched in our minds because we've chosen it to be.

Peter: And it's a moment that I'm somehow already nostalgic for (oh how we have further spiralled into hell since November!) and also one that really does speak to what we are hoping to do here. To paraphrase the legendary queer media worker Tracy E. Gilchrist, to "hold space" for something or someone is basically to see them or hear them in a new way, even if you've been familiar with them forever. And to do that without cynicism. Which is what we are absolutely about to do with our first topic.

Anne: Behold: our little section of the internet where we, and our like-minded comrades, can revel in something cultural that brings us joy. And this week, fresh out of White Lotus with the greatest southern drawl that's ever been committed to film (please do not fact check that), we're holding space for Parker Posey.

Peter: Which, to be clear, is not a remotely difficult thing for either of us to do. Holding space for Parker Posey comes as naturally to me as breathing air or being annoyed by Adrien Brody's Oscar speech. I'm just so grateful Mike White has given all of us such a grand opportunity to do just that.

Anne: Now before we really begin, I'd like to additionally hold space for the fact that we're clearly part of a larger moment. Last week, the Gap dropped its latest campaign which stars our best friend, Parker. The only way I'd like it more is if she'd go with me shopping there.

But I digress. Peter, Parker Posey is arguably experiencing (yet another) renaissance. But when did you begin heralding her as the second coming? I was late to the party: as a tween, I thought her You've Got Mail character was the foil to Meg Ryan's sweetheart persona and, by design, I really didn't like her. But the older I've gotten, the more I realize that making coffee nervous (the way Tom Hanks' character describes his then-partner, played by Posey) is a reputation I'd be proud of. Also, her character is competent, ambitious, funny, and willing to help Meg Ryan enter the world of publishing. She's a force! Parlaying her into a hero is like realizing Nate's the bad guy in The Devil Wears Prada: I am reborn.

Though admittedly, Posey does play the bad guy in Dazed and Confused as Darla, the exact type of teenager I still want to be, but more realistically, fear I will cross paths with at the mall. That's something I really love about her approach to acting: she completely disappears into these people who steal the scene. "Wipe that face off your head, bitch" is such a throwaway line, but I think of it at least six times a week.

Peter: I think my arrival to the Posey party was pretty much perfectly timed. I was 11 years old when this review in Entertainment Weekly (my bible at the time) led me to demand my mother let me rent Party Girl. Which is arguably the movie that kicked off Posey's designation as the indie film queen she was primarily defined as for the second half of the 1990s, and also the movie that made me basically scream who is this woman and how can I become her? It's just such an ideal introduction to Posey's charms, and I hope The White Lotus leads some formerly unaware people who have its way.

But yeah, I was basically Parker-pilled from that point forward (and also briefly wanted to become a fabulous librarian living in New York City). And Party Girl was my gateway Dazed and Confused, The Doom Generation, Kicking and Screaming, The House of Yes and Clockwatchers, all movies I must have seen before I was 16 years olds? Which, like, what a wild collection of movies to have in your back pocket as you are trying to develop a personality. And Posey was my guiding light to all of them. She's wonderful in every single one, as she is in literally everything she does, even the stuff that's bad!

Anne: I agree! Which isn't to say this season of White Lotus is bad — it's not! I like it! It's just a slowburn, I hope! — but there are mixed reviews regarding her southern drawl. Personally, I think it's necessary. I think we're supposed to underestimate her before we ultimately learn that she's the mastermind behind her husband's inevitable downfall. But what I also like about her performance this season is that it's another element to what we project as her own eccentricity. Like, of course Posey's going all in as this woman, downing large pieces of fruit whole at the breakfast table. Of course she can speak perfect Thai. Of course she's falling asleep at the dinner table.

But that eccentricity — or her ability to make eccentric characters seem like an extension of herself — is why I'll watch almost anything she's in. Her characters are certainly not always good people (to say the least), but she plays them in a way that makes even their terrible traits appealing. I would hate her White Lotus character's life! But I love her character's delivery and the way she seems to be completely led by her id, which I attribute to Posey herself, which is a trait I would love to have despite not wanting to have it in a million years. Does that make sense? It's almost like the Scarface effect. All those bros with Tony Montana posters on their wall don't want to be that man, they want to be as interesting as Al Pacino makes that man.

Peter: No, no, let me clear: I was not suggesting this season of White Lotus is bad. As you said, it's a slowburn, and I love me a good slowburn. I wish TV executives would allow more people who aren't Mike White the freedom to make slowburn shows. And I feel sorry for anyone who has something bad to say about Posey's performance this season, because as far as I'm concerned it's already proving an absolute masterclass in delivery a few episodes in. Yes, White is providing her with some great dialogue, but it's Posey's take on it that is, for me at least, the highlight of the season so far (although the Carrie Coon/Michelle Monaghan/Leslie Bibb trio are collectively a close second: more of them with Posey please!).

I'll admit the one thing about Posey being on The White Lotus that I am a little uncomfortable with is that I don't know if I want adoration for her to become as mainstream as it surely will be by season's end. It's kinda the same thing with when Jennifer Coolidge was on the other seasons, or even when Charli XCX skyrocketed into the culture with Brat: Sometimes it's nice when things are just for us! And by us, I mean me and you and by extension a certain subset of women and gay men of a certain age. To an even greater extent than Coolidge or Charli, I've loved Parker Posey for so long already, and I don't know if I'm ready for everyone and their mom to be in love with her too. But this is obviously an extremely selfish line of thinking, and perhaps anti-"holding space." Embracing this moment for Posey without cynicism means allowing others into an understanding of how special she is. Especially since it's likely going to help deliver Posey the flowers she has very much deserved for so long.

Anne: No, I get that too! It's such a double-edged sword: we want our cultural icons to soar but that means everyone will flock to them and SOME OF US (read: me) will revert back to our 2010s-era selves and rush to lay claim in a "Oh yeah? Name five of their albums!" way. I can already feel myself morphing into someone who starts aggressively asking new fans, "Did you even know her You've Got Mail character's name is PATRICIA?"

So maybe this column is also an exercise for us to learn that holding space also equates to us expanding said space. To kids who didn't grow up yelling "Fry like bacon!" back and forth to their friends, Parker Posey is going to be the White Lotus breakout who's dancing in a Gap ad. And that should make us happy! And it does! We just want the best for our best friend.

Peter: Exactly. And to those kids who didn't grow up yelling "Fry like bacon!" (or "Can I have a falafel with hot sauce, a side order of Baba Ghanoush and a seltzer, please?" for that matter) but now know the bounty that is Ms. Posey's talents, I cannot stress enough how imperative it is that you now expand your own space when it comes to her work. Do some exploring in her filmography! And not just obvious ones like Party Girl or Dazed and Confused or Best in Show (though those too, please). There's so many hidden gems throughout her career, like Personal Velocity and Broken English and Price Check. Not to mention her incredible work on television pre-White Lotus (her guest work on High Fidelity, Search Party and Mr. and Mrs. Smith in particular). You could literally just watch Parker Posey performances for weeks on end and you'd never get bored!

Anne: And, if you're anything like me, you would spend those weeks trying to absorb her character's best (see: worst) traits via osmosis because that's the type of unhealthy relationship with pop culture I have. Though that being said, I still don't have the guts to dance atop the tables at the New York Public Library. But at 39, I'm still young.

Peter: I think somehow the next edition of this column needs to involve us traveling to New York and holding space for you doing just that.